description of the process that centers on the making of a stew or soup, a preparation in which the solid food both provides part of the sauce and cooks in the sauce In the business of harmonious blending, one must make use of the sweet, sour, bitter, pungent and salty Whether things are to be added earlier or later and in what amounts — their balancing is very subtle and each thing has its own characteristic The transformation which occurs in the cauldron is quintessential and wondrous, subtle and delicate The mouth cannot express it in words; the mind cannot fix upon an analogy It is like the subtlety of archery and horsemanship, the transformation of Yin and Yang, or the revolution of the four seasons Thus [the food] is long-lasting yet does not spoil; thoroughly cooked yet not mushy; sweet yet not cloying; sour yet not corrosive; salty yet not deadening; pungent yet not acrid; mild yet not insipid; oily-smooth yet not greasy — attributed to the chef I Yin in the Lü Shih Chhun Chhiu (Master Lü’s Spring and Autumn Annals), 239 BCE, transl Donald Harper and H T Huang The Middle Ages: Refinement and Concentration We don’t know much about cooking in Europe between the time of Apicius and the 14th century, the period from which a number of manuscript recipe collections survive In some respects, sauce making hadn’t changed much Medieval sauces often contained many spices, the mortar and pestle still pounded ingredients — now including meats and vegetables — and most of the Roman thickeners were still used Bread was most common, toasted to provide additional color and flavor, while pure starch was no longer ... — attributed to the chef I Yin in the Lü Shih Chhun Chhiu (Master Lü’s Spring and Autumn Annals), 239 BCE, transl Donald Harper and H T Huang The Middle Ages: Refinement and Concentration We don’t know much about cooking in Europe... between the time of Apicius and the 14th century, the period from which a number of manuscript recipe collections survive In some respects, sauce making hadn’t changed much Medieval sauces often contained many... spices, the mortar and pestle still pounded ingredients — now including meats and vegetables — and most of the Roman thickeners were still used Bread was most common, toasted to provide additional color